Sorte Hest (
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
: Black Horse) is the oldest building in the
Vesterbro district of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establishe ...
. A former roadside
inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
, then located well outside the limits of the
fortified city
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
, standing on the Vestre Landevej (Western Country Road) leading in and out of Copenhagen through the
Western City Gate
The Western City Gate ( sr, Западна капија Београда, Zapadna kapija Beograda), also known as the Genex Tower ( sr, Кула Генекс, Kula Geneks) is a 36-story skyscraper in Belgrade, Serbia, which was designed in 1977 b ...
. It provided accommodation for travellers as well as citizens who failed to enter the city before the city gates were locked at sunset. Today it houses a bakery and café as well as apartments.
History
The four Horses
The Black Horse was one out of four inns known as "Horses" located along the western access road to Copenhagen. Closest to the city stood the Green Horse, then followed the White Horse, the Yellow Horse and farthest out, on the border to
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...
, the Black Horse. In between these inns were even more establishments catering for travellers. Competition was thus fierce and at some point both the Green and White Horses closed.
The Yellow Horse, with four
pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
s and two
bowling courses, only survived because it also went into
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ch ...
manufacturing. Part of the area between the Vestre Landevej and
Frederiksberg Allé
Frederiksberg Allé is a tree-lined avenue which runs through the southernmost part of the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It connects Vesterbrogade at Værnedamsvej to Frederiksberg Runddel in front of the main entrance to Fre ...
was laid out as tobacco fields and a horse-driven mill was constructed for the processing of tobacco into
snus
Snus ( , ) is a tobacco product, originating from a variant of dry snuff in early 18th-century Sweden. It is placed between the upper lip and gum for extended periods, as a form of sublabial administration. Snus is not fermented. Although use ...
. Other exotic produce cultivated on the estate included
peach
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non- ...
es,
apricot
An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus '' Prunus''.
Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are al ...
s,
mulberries
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
and
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry (botany), berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non-Climacteric (botany), climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of ...
s. In the mid-19th century the property was acquired by a couple of
akvavit
''Akvavit'' or ''aquavit'' (; also ''akevitt'' in Norwegian; ''aquavit'' in English) is a distilled spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century. ''Akvavit'' is distilled from grain or po ...
manufacturers who had realized that
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...
was a much more lucrative business. They became rich from selling off the land in parcels to developers to use for the construction of multi-story apartment buildings, turning Vestre Landevej into urban Vesterbrogade.
The Black Horse

Further out on Vesterbro, the Black Horse had been an inn since the 17th century. First known as the Golden Lion (Danish: Den Gyldne Løve), the current building was constructed in 1771. The closest neighbour, on the opposite side of the road, was the
execution site at Vester Fælled (Western Common). It was here that the Counts
Johann Friedrich Struensee
Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government. ...
and
Enevold Brandt
Count Enevold Brandt (1738 - 28 April 1772) was a Danish courtier.
Biography
Brandt was born in Copenhagen, and studied law at the University of Copenhagen. He became assistant judge of the Supreme Court of Copenhagen in 1764, royal chambe ...
were put on public display on the
breaking wheel
The breaking wheel or execution wheel, also known as the Wheel of Catherine or simply the Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages into the early modern period by breakin ...
, following their executions by
beheading
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...
.
For a couple of decades in the early 19th century the building served as a
masonry stove factory, before it was bought by the inn keeper Hans Rasmussen, who returned the building to its original function, although stoves were still manufactured on the upper floor. Well into the 20th century the Black Horse continued to serve as an inn, but by 1980 the building had fallen into disrepair and was left empty. In 1986, the building was occupied by the Danish
Squatter
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
's Movement and remained their premier stronghold in Copenhagen, until they were evicted by the police on 2 February 1990. The building was then scheduled for demolition, but after local opposition these plans were abandoned and the Black Horse was instead renovated and restored.
Cultural references
* In Danish writer and poet
Carl Bagger Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
's 1835 book ''Min Broders Levned'' (''My Brother's Life''), he describes the colourful characters associated with the Black Horse, including the patron and a short man with a parrot nose and a long, blue coat.
References
External links
{{coord, 55.6704, N, 12.5398, E, source:kolossus-dawiki, display=title
Vesterbro, Copenhagen
Buildings and structures in Copenhagen
Hotel buildings completed in 1771
Evicted squats
Squatting in Denmark